Have You Ever Eaten Tripe?

Tripe is a generic name for the stomachs of various animals. Most tripe sold in the United States is from beef.

Cows have four chambers in their stomach. The first is the rumen, the second the reticulum, the third the omasum, and the fourth the abomasum. The first stomach chamber is the "blanket" tripe, the second the "honeycomb" tripe and third is the "bible" or "book" tripe. The last chamber is rarely used because of its texture.

Honeycomb tripe is the most preferred for cooking.

Tripe has a gamey odor, which depends on what animal it comes from and what the animal last ate. The other ingredients cooked with tripe usually mask the odor.

Tripe is usually sold bleached and often is partially cooked. Unprocessed tripe needs to be cooked as long as 12 hours to make it tender enough to chew.

How to Prepare and Cook Tripe

In order for tripe to be edible, it must be thoroughly cleaned. When you bring tripe home, you must rinse it thoroughly until the water runs clear and there is no grittiness.

Fresh tripe is a beige color and is usually bleached to make it look more appetizing. Unbleached and uncooked tripe will have more flavor, though. Fresh tripe must be cooked about 12 hours to make it soft and tender, and it'll have more flavor the longer it cooks.

You can also buy pre-cooked tripe that you can season and heat. Cooked tripe can be made into soup, but can also be dipped into fritter batter and deep fried, and served pickled or in a marinade. Tripe is eaten all over the world, and is prepared in many different ways.

Place the tripe in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, drain, and rinse the tripe. Cover the meat with water again and add the carrot, onion, bay leaf, and salt and pepper. Cover the pan and simmer for about 2 hours, until tender.

Drain and cool the tripe. Whip the egg yolks, then dip the tripe into them and then into the bread crumbs. Heat the butter and olive oil in a pan; medium heat. Pan-fry until both sides are nicely browned.

Country / Southern Cooking Cookbooks

Menudo - Spicy Mexican Soup

Menudo is a traditional spicy Mexican soup made with tripe. Many people believe menudo can cure a hangover.

Menudo is usually made with tripe along with beef feet and tendons. Boil the feet and tendons first at a low to medium heat for about 3 hours. Skim off the top layer of floating foam about every 15 minutes for the first hour.

After the first 3 hours, add the tripe along with garlic, salt, and onion. Continue boiling the menudo for another three hours, keeping the pot covered. Add crushed oregano, crushed red chili peppers, chopped onions, chopped cilatro, lemon, or any other spices you want. Add hominy when the menudo is almost done.

Like chili and stew, menudo tastes even better the second or third day since the flavor will become more concentrated each time it's heated.

American Indian Recipes Using Tripe

These recipes are from the booklet "INDIAN RECIPES", compiled by the United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) Office of Public Information, 1992.

FRIED OR BOILED INDIAN SAUSAGE

Use tripe (boiled previously) inside out, about half a foot in length. Fill this with dried meat, grease, and fry until it is crisp. then slice into pieces to serve.

TRIPE SPECIAL

Select the straight intestine of a cow. With the two ends open, turn the intestine inside out. Place cubes of fresh beef, salt and pepper seasoning in the tube. Fasten each end of the intestine with string. Boil the sausage for an hour. It is now ready to serve.

Being of Italian descent, tripe was practically a food staple. My grandmother would lay it flat then spread ricotta cheese and spinach on it along with herbs, spices and parmesan. Roll it up, tie it with string and let it simmer for hours.